Choose artist...

Top 10 for Dec

As 'Telluride Bluegrass' tunes up, Colorado Public Radio looks back at some bands that birthed the festival

On the final day of the 2014 Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Aoife O'Donovan, Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins found themselves singing together in a backstage bathroom at the iconic Sheridan Opera House. O'Donovan, Jarosz and Watkins already had their own established music careers before that night in Telluride. Yet they knew there was something special right away - and this impromptu set was the beginning of their band I'm With Her. The three are back for the 45th annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and it will be "a really special moment" for them.

The bluegrass festival, organized by Lyons-based Planet Bluegrass, has inspired a number of musical collaborations throughout its history. Festival emcee Chris Daniels, who is also the new executive director of the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, says it's the "hey, we can try anything' spirit of Telluride that puts musicians in a collaborative mindset. Daniels says he'll never forget sitting backstage, watching singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter, banjo player Bela Fleck and singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin "work out a song together" before taking the stage. Strength in Numbers: Daniels says one of the "most astounding" collaborations he's ever seen come out of the festival is a band called Strength in Numbers. This group's roster included five titans of modern bluegrass: banjo player Béla Fleck, dobro player Jerry Douglas, fiddler and guitarist Mark O'Connor, bassist Edgar Meyer, and mandolin player Sam Bush. These musicians performed at Telluride Bluegrass Festival with different musical groupings for years. And then came together for a 1988 album called "The Telluride Sessions." They've been referred to as the "Telluride All-Star Band." Bush, who has been a mainstay at the festival since '75, sort of laughs at that description.

READ/WATCH THE Colorado Public Radio ARTICLE/VIDEOS